Why Chunna Mian's picture is installed inside a Bareilly temple?

Story by  ATV | Posted by  Aasha Khosa • 2 Years ago
Chunna Mian's picture on temple wall
Chunna Mian's picture on temple wall

 

Ghaus Siwani / New Delhi

India’s hinterland is dotted with tales of religious unity and, interestingly, Bareilly, a city in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh has quite a few of them. The city has a Hindu temple where alongside the deity, a picture of a Muslim man is also installed.

The framed picture adorning the main wall outside the sanctum sanctorum of Lakshmi Narayana temple is of Fazlur Rahman alias Chunna Mian, a Muslim by faith. He practised his religion but also worked for forging unity among the people.

He donated the land and also spent his own money to build the temple on it. Though it’s named Lakshmi Narayan Temple, in reality, it symbolizes the unity of India and of its people. This temple built in 1960 after the partition of the Indian sub-continent on the basis of religion, stands mocking at those who want to divide society on the basis of religion for their own petty interests.

This temple is made on the pattern of other famous temples of Sanatan Dharma and is thronged by hundreds of devotees each day. This temple is located in Kataraman Rai market of Bareilly.

To give this temple a special Indian touch, a replica of  Emperor Ashoka's emblem Ashok Chakra is installed at the entrance of this temple.

Lakshmi Narayan temple and Picture of Chunna Mian

Fazlur Rahman is still known as Chacha (uncle) Chunna Mian in the area. He was a rich businessman of Bareilly. Chunna Mian has also donated towards the building of other temples in the city. He donated for the installation of idols of Radha Krishna in the famous Hari temple and in the Shiva temple Dhupeshwar Nath installed tube wells for the devoteesLakshmi Narayan Temple and Chunna Mian's picture.

According to the local people, Chunna Mian spent her entire life building temples, gurudwaras and schools and colleges. He supported the construction of many college-schools including Islamia Inter College, Commerce Block of Bareilly College, Gali Manihar's Gurdwara etc. He also established a school in the Moradabad district.

Chunna Mian was born in Bareilly in 1889 on the day of Krishna Janmashtami, the birthday of Lord Krishna. His father passed away when Chana Mian was 8-year-old. A few years later, his mother also passed away. Chunna Mian’s struggle thus started early in life.

During his days of struggle, Chunna Mian met Seth Gulzari Lal, a rich businessman of the city and worked for him. After some time Seth gave him some money and advised him to start a business with this amount.

Chunna Mian started selling goods from door to door in a basket. His business grew and he became one of the richest people in Bareilly. He also bought the city's largest ironing company.

After the independence and partition of the country, many Punjabis after leaving everything behind in Pakistan had settled in Bareilly. They had no place for worship.

The Punjabi community was keen to have a temple and even approached the court for allowing them to build one on state land. Chunna Mian was the niggest donor for the temple. The large-hearted philanthropist that Fazlur Rehman was, he not only gave land and money for building Lakshmi-Narayan temple, he also  carried mud and stones on his head during its construction.

Chunna Mian's grandchildren Shams-ur-Rehman and Najam-ur-Rehman told Awaz-the Voice that their grandfather had gone to Jaipur to personally select the idols of Goddess Lakshmi and her consort Narayan for the temple. He chose good quality marble statues.

He ferried the idols and also oversaw their installation in the temple.

The replica of Insignia of 'Ashoka' in the Lakshmi-Narayan temple

On May 16, 1960, when the temple was ready, Chunna Mian invited the then President Dr Rajendra Prasad for its inauguration. The local Punjabi community then registered a body called the Sanatan Dharma Punjabi Frontier Sabha. Again, Chunna Mian made the first contribution of Rs 20,700 towards creating its core fund.

Chunna Mian’s greatness lay in not only that he donated land and money for building a temple, he also worked as a labourer in the construction of the temple; he carried stones and mud on his head, like all other Hindu devotees, did as a matter of faith. As a mark of gratitude towards him, the devotees framed his huge picture and installed it on the main wall of the temple. Chunna Mian is no more but his grandchildren and the entire family is still attached to the temple.

Even today his grandchildren visit the temple and take part in its maintenance.

Chunna Mian’s story reached the then Prime Minister of India, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. Nehru met him during his visit to the city. He was so pleased with the selfless work that he asked him to become a nominated member of the Rajya Sabha.

Chunna Mian politely refused the offer saying he wanted to stay away from politics.